Death Rode the Rails: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828--1965

481 Pages·2006·6.56 MB·English

by  Mark Aldrich

Death Rode the Rails
Death
American Railroad Accidents and Safety,
1828–1965
Rode the Rails
Mark Aldrich
(cid:1)
the johns hopkins university press baltimore
©2006 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2006
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aldrich, Mark.
Death rode the rails : American railroad accidents and safety, 1828–1965 /
Mark Aldrich.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-8018-8236-2 (hc. : alk. paper)
1. Railroads—United States—Accidents—History. 2. Railroads —United
States—Safety measures—History. I. Title. tf23.a474 2006
363.12(cid:118)2(cid:118)0973—dc22 2005013355
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
To Michele,
for everything
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Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
1. In the Beginning: American Railroad Dangers and Safety, 1828–1873 10
2. Off the Tracks: The Changing Pattern of Derailments, 1873–1900 42
3. Collisions and the Rise of Regulation, 1873–1900 70
4. The Major Risks from Minor Accidents, 1873–1900 97
5. Engineering Success and Disaster: Bridge Design and Failure, 1840–1900 130
6. Coping with the Casualties: Companies, Workers, and Injuries, 1850–1900 155
7. Safety Crisis and Safety First, 1900–1920 181
8. Lobbying for Regulation: Transporting Hazardous Substances, 1903–1930 216
9. Private Enterprise and Public Regulation: Safety between the Wars, 1922–1939 237
10. Safety in War and Decline, 1940–1965 271
Conclusion. The Political Economy of Railroad Safety, 1830–1965 303
Appendix One. Nineteenth-Century Railroad Accident and Casualty Statistics 309
Appendix Two. Casualties and Accidents from Interstate Commerce Commission Statistics,
1888–1965 321
List of Abbreviations 341
Notes 343
Essay on Sources 421
Index 439
Photo gallery appears following page 215
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Figures
15 1.1. Technology and Accidents, Great Britain and America
17 1.2. Passenger Fatality Rates, America and Great Britain, 1846–1900
17 1.3. Worker Fatality Rates, America and Great Britain, 1845–1900
18 1.4. Other Fatalities, America and Great Britain, 1852–1900
28 1.5. The Effect of Managerial Choices on the Payoff to Safety Equipment
44 2.1. Percentage of Accidents by Number of Casualties, 1877–1880 and 1898–1900
45 2.2. The Evolution of Train Accidents, 1873–1900
46 2.3. The Changing Causes of Derailments, 1873–1900
58 2.4. The Trade-off Between Rail Weight and Cross Ties
71 3.1. The Rise of Collisions, 1873–1900
73 3.2. The Changing Nature of Collisions, 1873–1900
98 4.1. Locomotive Accidents from Explosions and Broken Rods, 1873–1900
114 4.2. Trainmen’s Fatality Rates, Braking and Coupling Cars, 1890–1909
120 4.3. Passenger Fatality Rates, by Cause, 1890–1910
182 7.1. Passenger and Worker Fatality Rates, 1890–1920
194 7.2. Track and Passenger Miles Protected by Block Signaling, 1900–1939
199 7.3. Derailments, Adjusted for Infl ation and Car Miles, 1902–1920
207 7.4. Rail Failures, Five-Year Rates, Adjusted for Track and Traffi c, 1908–1939
212 7.5. Fatalities of Trespassers and at Grade Crossings, 1890–1920
244 9.1. Passenger and Worker Fatality Rates, 1922–1939
245 9.2. Safety and Productivity, 1922–1923 and 1938–1939
264 9.3. The Impact of Depression on Trespassing Fatalities, 1926–1940
274 10.1. Passenger Fatality Rates, World War I and World War II
275 10.2. Worker Fatality Rates, World War I and World War II
276 10.3. The Changing Trade-off between Safety and Output, 1918 and 1944
279 10.4. Passenger and Worker Fatality Rates, 1940–1965
288 10.5. Worker Fatality Rates, Three Weak and Three Strong Roads, 1950–1965
291 10.6. Derailments, Adjusted for Infl ation, Reporting, and Car Miles, 1940–1965
300 10.7. Derailment Rates, Three Weak and Three Strong Roads, 1950–1965
ix